Some Essential Questions for dealing with The Stranger:
So what's this book all about? It's Camus's attempt to put his philosophy of the Absurd and the Absurd Hero into a narrative form.
(1) It's easy enough to dismiss this book as boring, simply written, and thus not worth reading. While the first descriptor is certainly subject to opinion, the second (and with it, the third), I can attest as being intentional on Camus's part. Meursault is an outsider and a "blank" character of sorts--he reports only physical stimuli, and does not appear to be concerned with anything emotional, moral, or otherwise abstract. Only the physical, only the here and now. In this way, Camus forces us as readers to compare and contrast Meursault and his behavior with our own thoughts and actions. How are we like him? How are we different? Why does he seem so foreign to us? Are his actions justified or are others' judgments of him justified? I would argue that Meursault is not just a blank slate, but a mirror; in looking at and judging Meursault, Camus wants us to subject ourselves (and our society) to the same scrutiny.
This is another way of phrasing the above: consider every other character in the book (you the Reader included) as a foil to Meursault. How is he similar to and different from each of the other human characters he (and thus we) encounter in the novella? How is he similar to and different from you?
(2) How would you define a Hero? Is Meursault heroic by your definition? How does Camus define an Absurd Hero? Does Meursault fit the definition of an Absurd Hero?
(3) Examine Meursault in his various social relationships (I use all of these terms lightly): son, lover, friend, observer, etc. What do these reveal about him as a character? What do these reveal about our society and its standard behaviors?
(4) In what ways, if any, is Meursault moral? Immoral? Amoral?
(5) In Absurdism, the necessity of existence is for the individual to find his or her own happiness regardless of one's environment or situation...even in "the rock" itself. How does Meursault do this? Find examples; Are you able to do this? Can you find your happiness, regardless of your environment and your situation? Can you find a reason to be happy and a moment of happiness in every single day?
(6) One could argue (I am that one) that
the controlling metaphor in Part II of The Stranger involves the relationship between Meursault and the judicial system. Through this relationship, Camus metaphorically represents man’s Absurd condition in the universe. Analyze and support this claim with examples from the text.
So why does Camus hate Arabs? (Read: He doesn't). Recall that French Algeria (Camus himself was French Algerian, as well as his character Meursault) is the setting in the book. Understand that The Stranger (a.k.a. The Outsider) is about a human being, Meursault, who does not display the characteristics, behavior, and values that the rest of his society deem "normal", and after his murderous act, they convict him as such, calling him a "monster" (in other words, not human). Their willingness to condemn him to the verdict they deliver is due in part to their unwillingness to understand and empathize with him.
But Meursault is not the only stranger, or outsider. The Arabs, of which there are several character examples throughout the work, are also relegated to an "outsider" or "stranger" role; the French characters who interact with them never name them, never seek to understand them, and mistreat them. Human beings are capable of mistreating any "stranger", "outsider", or "Other"; this is the danger of believing anyone else to be less human than you (consider also, Hitler's attempted justifications of atrocities towards the Jewish: something taking place when Camus wrote The Stranger). What if "the stranger" being referred to in the title isn't Meursault, but the man he kills? Find examples in the text that support this line of reasoning.
Is Meursault a nihilist, existentialist, or absurdist? (He could represent aspects of each, of course)
What three options does man have when confronted with the absurd? In Camus's perspective, why are the first two not defensible options?
According to Camus's philosophy, how--or in what--does one find happiness?
Camus "draw[s] from the absurd three consequences"; what are these three consequences? How does he define each of these three?
Explain Camus and the philosophy of the absurd's perspective on any three of the following topics, as listed in the entry: The meaning of life; elusion; God; suicide; personal meaning; freedom; hope; integrity.
IF ( a big if) you are interested in reading more Camus, here is his essay "Reflections on the Guillotine". He won the Nobel Prize for Literature the same year that this essay was published (along with his novel The Plague). It definitely has connections to The Stranger, and it also played a part in France eventually stopping their use of the death penalty.
If the philosophical questions posed by works like The Stranger and Siddhartha interest you, consider checking out the documentary film The Nature of Existence. It's much better than the generic title might indicate, and it's available on Netflix.
Links and Files
Some Essential Questions for dealing with The Stranger:
- So what's this book all about? It's Camus's attempt to put his philosophy of the Absurd and the Absurd Hero into a narrative form.
- (1) It's easy enough to dismiss this book as boring, simply written, and thus not worth reading. While the first descriptor is certainly subject to opinion, the second (and with it, the third), I can attest as being intentional on Camus's part. Meursault is an outsider and a "blank" character of sorts--he reports only physical stimuli, and does not appear to be concerned with anything emotional, moral, or otherwise abstract. Only the physical, only the here and now. In this way, Camus forces us as readers to compare and contrast Meursault and his behavior with our own thoughts and actions. How are we like him? How are we different? Why does he seem so foreign to us? Are his actions justified or are others' judgments of him justified? I would argue that Meursault is not just a blank slate, but a mirror; in looking at and judging Meursault, Camus wants us to subject ourselves (and our society) to the same scrutiny.
- This is another way of phrasing the above: consider every other character in the book (you the Reader included) as a foil to Meursault. How is he similar to and different from each of the other human characters he (and thus we) encounter in the novella? How is he similar to and different from you?
- (2) How would you define a Hero? Is Meursault heroic by your definition? How does Camus define an Absurd Hero? Does Meursault fit the definition of an Absurd Hero?
- (3) Examine Meursault in his various social relationships (I use all of these terms lightly): son, lover, friend, observer, etc. What do these reveal about him as a character? What do these reveal about our society and its standard behaviors?
- (4) In what ways, if any, is Meursault moral? Immoral? Amoral?
- (5) In Absurdism, the necessity of existence is for the individual to find his or her own happiness regardless of one's environment or situation...even in "the rock" itself. How does Meursault do this? Find examples; Are you able to do this? Can you find your happiness, regardless of your environment and your situation? Can you find a reason to be happy and a moment of happiness in every single day?
- (6) One could argue (I am that one) that
the controlling metaphor in Part II of The Stranger involves the relationship between Meursault and the judicial system. Through this relationship, Camus metaphorically represents man’s Absurd condition in the universe. Analyze and support this claim with examples from the text.